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Review of rural bus services

Public consultation has begun for a review to explore how government school buses in regional areas can provide travel for all students, regardless of whether they attend a government or non-government school.

The review follows concerns raised last March by parents of Catholic school students in country areas whose children were denied access to the local school bus.

The Southern Cross that a Liberal Government would seek to ensure that non-government school students had fair access to regional school buses.

Currently more than 430 school bus routes provide transport for students across regional South Australia and around 14,600 students use the services.

In a statement last month, Mr Gardner said the Government was also considering making school buses available for broader community use and moving the responsibility for their management from the Education Department to the Department for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI).

The public consultation is asking parents and caregivers of students, as well as the broader community in regional South Australia, to consider the following:

What will be the impact of ensuring all school students in regional SA have the opportunity to take a school bus to school?

What impacts may occur if government school buses stop at non-government schools?

What impacts will there be if school buses are made available for community purposes?

How would the transfer of government school bus responsibility from the Education Department to DPTI make services more effective and efficient?

Responses received as part of the consultation process will inform the review’s recommendations to the Government.

“The Marshall Liberal Government is committed to all school students having fair access to school buses in regional areas,” Mr Gardner said.

“We want this review of bus services to inform the best mechanism for this, as regional students should have reasonable access to transport as they do in the city.

“This consultation will allow the public to have a say in ensuring consistent school transport for all regional students.

“I encourage anyone affected by or with an interest in how our school bus services are run to contribute to the conversation.”

The consultation is open until Friday February 15 at yoursay.sa.gov.au.